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'Vanderpump Rules' Star Tom Sandoval on Season 6 of the Show & the Secret to His Relationship with Co-Star Ariana Madix

Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval dishes on the latest season of the show, the secret to his relationship with co-star Ariana Madix, and his upcoming restaurant, The Tom Tom Bar, with Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star and restaurateur Lisa Vanderpump.

I've heard Lisa Vanderpump say that the latest season of Vanderpump Rules is filled with mudslinging. So, should we expect some drama?TOM SANDOVAL:Well, it’s funny you say that because I thought going into Season 6 that, “Oh, this’ll be more of a chill season,” but this is probably going to be one of the more scandalous ones, if not the most scandalous season yet. Definitely some mudslinging for sure.

There was one thing in the trailer of the season that surprised me, which was the budding bromance Jax and James seem to be having all of a sudden. What is going on here?TS: [Laughs] You know what’s funny? Personally, I always thought that Jax and James had a lot of similarities and I feel like it’s one of the reasons why they’ve definitely butted heads. They have similar personalities, the way they handle certain situations, and so I feel like it’s one of the reasons why they’ve definitely butted heads, but in a way, they’ve gotten past that in a sense where they bond over it in a weird way. So, yeah, it’s been interesting. You’ll definitely see a little bit of a bromance between Jax and James and then also not...

Speaking of romance, you and Ariana seem quite cozy. How did that relationship start, and did you feel pressure to put a label on it? At times I feel like it hinders the relationship.TS: The first time we looked at it was when we took our first trip together. We went to Napa Valley and it was an amazing trip. We had such a good time, and we just got so much closer after that trip. So we looked at that moment as the first one where we really were like, “Yes, we want this to be a thing. We want to be together. We don’t want to be with anyone else." It was a casual thing. Neither one of us put pressure on the other person which is always good to me.

But I agree with you and I think, even with marriage, the labels will add a lot of pressure because you start using phrases such as “until death do us part,” or “forever,” “until the end of time,” “as long as I live,” and it’s a grim way of looking at a relationship versus just taking it as a day at a time. You know what I mean? And then, even with a relationship status, if you really don’t want to be with somebody and you know they don’t want to be with anybody else, you don’t necessarily have to start calling it a relationship until a good amount of time goes by.

I've heard news that you’re going to be opening a new restaurant, The Tom Tom Bar, which is very exciting, and that one of your business partners in the venture is Lisa Vanderpump. Tell me this is true...TS: Yeah, it’s looking good. It’s one of those things you’re definitely going to see unfold in the upcoming season and it’ll dive right into that, pick up where we left off as far as last season goes. We’re still working on it. It’s not all one hundred percent set in stone, but I feel very fortunate that Ken and Lisa are in this because I would be extremely, without them, I would just be very overwhelmed.

Who's are some biggest star you've spotted at one of Lisa's restaurants?TS: Dustin Hoffman used to come in to Villa Blanca before he would go to the dentist, and he would have shots of tequila or he would actually drink red wine sometimes, which was weird to me that he would drink red wine before going to see the dentist. But yeah, I mean, Scott Weiland came in a couple times while I was working. We’ve definitely had our fair share of celebrities for sure. I know Simon Cowell had a birthday dinner there. Dr. Dre’s been in a few times.

And where can we catch you on a night out?TS: Sometimes Schwartz and I will bar hop on Sundays. We’ll maybe go hit up SkyBar, then maybe walk over to The Standard, then go to Saddle Ranch, and eventually end up at Belmont. We like to go see live bands. I’ll go to comedy shows. I’ll go to UCB, and watch an improv show. But also, I like to go play darts. I like to go sing karaoke. I’m really into dive bars. I go places where people know who I am, they know my drink order as soon as I walk in, they have my drink ready. I don’t really like these clubs that open around here, and they’re already at capacity, and then there’s twenty people out front trying to get in. I hate that. The only time I’ll go to places like that is if it’s somebody birthday and I have to for some reason. But usually I have to talk Ariana, who’s not as social as I am, into going to a bar afterwards and I usually do that with dinner.

Do you have a go-to karaoke song?TS:I totally murder "Paradise City" by Guns N’ Roses. I can sing the hell out of that song. [Laughs] I’ll sing Muse. Sometimes I’ll do some Panic! At the Disco. I do, "Oh Sherrie" by Steve Perry. But yeah, I don’t know, I sing all kinds of stuff. Sometimes I’ll go up there and rap.